Kiev is so much more than Maidan

I visited Kiev for the first time a week after the events on Maidan. The central parts of the city was still like a war zone, but there is so much more to Kiev than that! I love the large orthodox churches and we went on a walk in a park with lots of street art. Can't wait to explore more in this capital of my fiancee's home country.  Below St Andrew's church...

...and St. Sophia Cathedral

Statue of Peeing Colours in a park nearby... 

Soviet style letter boxes it the bottom of an apartment complex

My family

The Motherland Monument or the 'Rodina-Mat' is a monumental statue that is a part of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. It stands on top of the museum building, is 62m tall and weighs 560 tonnes. 

Outside of the museum we found two 'well camouflaged' tanks 

Close by there was an army museum with not so colourful tanks...

The sun will soon rise for a better future for the people of Ukraine

I visited Kiev for the first time a week after the horrible events at Maidan Nezelezhnosti or the Independence Square, the central square of the city which was the centre for Euromaidan. Kiev is a beautiful city and at most places it was hard to imagine the horrors where more than 100 men and women lost their lives. The hardships for the country continues but i hope that the sun will soon rise to a brighter future for the proud people of Ukraine.

The week after the shootings the city was still a war zone...

...and the barricades were still there...

...but is was cleaning up time

Signs of the horror were still present...

...and people were mourning the lost ones

 But people tried to stay happy and give support to each other...

 ...and hopefully the sun will soon rise on a strong and calm Kiev again!

Where Shakespeare was born

Stratford-upon-Avon, which is knows locally as Stratford, has a population of about 25,000 but has close to 5 million visitors a year. Although it is very close to our favourite places in Cotswolds we have never been so last time we visited we decided to stop by. The town is absolutely lovely, and thanks to its history it has been kept fairly intact, which makes it quite different.

We saw most of the sites in the town but decided to leave Anne Hathaway's Cottage, which is located out of town, to our next visit. We loved it, so we will absolutely be back!

Shakespeare's birthplace:

High Street is a bit different from what we are used to:

Outside Nash's House, the house next door to the ruins and gardens of Shakespeare's final residence, New Place.

Hall's Croft, where Shakespeare's daughter Susanna Hall and her husband Dr John Hall lived. 

His grave

Stratford by night